No points in the last two games from Spezza, but tonight he had one assist, he won the Bully that lead to the winning goal. http://www.nationalleague.ch/NL/spie...20131105071167 http://www.bluewin.ch/de/index.php/1...sset_id=135940
It's very nice to see how he improved his skating skills, he's so much faster now than in the beginning. I would regret so much if this lockout has no end, because like to see how he would benefit of that in the NHL!
No points in the last two games from Spezza, but tonight he had one assist, he won the Bully that lead to the winning goal. http://www.nationalleague.ch/NL/spie...20131105071167
It's very nice to see how he improved his skating skills, he's so much faster now than in the beginning. I would regret so much if this lockout has no end, because like to see how he would benefit of that in the NHL!
That's interesting. Spezza has worked to improve his speed and skating throughout his career and it has made a big difference.
If he has somehow found a faster gear then that is very good news.
Maybe we should send Stone over there next.
Spezza's always been deceptively fast. He has such long strides
But in my opinion he seems to be much more agile now. He had lots of trainings here, and in Switzerland the coaches sets always value on the skating.
Spezza self said, he never skated that much like here, in his whole career.
Karlsson was interviewed for Jokerit TV. He's the third day of the Jokerit Christmas Calendar. The interview is in Swedish and subtitles conveniently in Finnish but I have made a translation below for you guys who don't speak either of these globally popular languages.
WHY DO YOU PLAY WITH NUMBER 65?
- My parents were born in 1965. It was the best number I came up with.
WHO HAS BEEN YOUR BEST DMAN PARTNER?
- Sergei Gontshar. Experienced fox who has played in the NHL for many years and plays smart. He knows what to do on the ice.
WHO'S THE MOST DIFFICULT FORWARD TO DEFEND AGAINST IN A 1 ON 1 SITUATION IN THE NHL?
- Pavel Datsjuk or Sidney Crosby.
WHAT WERE YOUR HOBBIES WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER?
- I played football [soccer to you NA guys, we call your football American football] till I was 16. I played mostly football and hockey. I also fished alot and played tennis and different kinds of ball games.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HELSINKI AND FINLAND OVERALL SINCE YOU'VE BEEN HERE?
- It has just snowed so it's not so fun anymore but the city is great. It's not so different from Sweden [Sweden is Finland's neighboring country to the west] so it hasn't been that big a change.
WHO'S THE BEST SPORTSMAN IN SWEDEN AT THE MOMENT?
- Probably Zlatan Ibrahimovic [footballer, google it up]. His quite hot at the moment [no, not hot that kind of way].
DO YOU HAVE PREGAME RITUALS?
- Unfortunately no, or unfortunately and unfortunately. I try to avoid things I'd have to do every game day. There's always something new and not always so much to do.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE TOUGHEST MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
- Probably two seasons ago when we didn't win so often. We had a tough season and many players were traded away. It was probably the hardest time of my career so far.
WHY FILPPULA BROTHERS BEAT YOU AND RUUTU IN FOOTBALL TENNIS? [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_tennis ]
- They weren't better than we but maybe a bit smarter. And they needed some self confidence so that they could play well on the ice.
DO YOU TURN THE SITUATION AROUND WHEN VALTTERI IS HEALTHY AGAIN? [Detroit's Valtteri Filppula is injured, should return to the ice before Christmas.]
- I think we're going to let them win. They need it more than we do.
HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR?
- If I'm here [in Europe] then back home in Sweden with my family. Otherwise in Ottawa.
Last edited by Kentti: 12-04-2012 at 05:29 PM.
Reason: typo
Very interesting to note he didn't mention his Partner for 3 years in Kuba. He mentions Gonchar. If he had the impact that made Karlsson who he is now, that alone is worth the Gonchar signing.
Very interesting to note he didn't mention his Partner for 3 years in Kuba. He mentions Gonchar. If he had the impact that made Karlsson who he is now, that alone is worth the Gonchar signing.
The Gonchar signing is well worth it and not only for mentoring
- He produces points (52nd in D-men scoring in 2010-11 despite missing 15 games, 22nd in D-men scoring in 2011-12 despite missing 8 games)
- He logs quality minutes (~22 mins)
- We always had the cap space to have him
- We need/needed to reach the cap floor
- Gives another name for marketing reasons
- A lot of experience and mentoring, good for the youth
I'd rather have Gonchar than some random D-man, even if it is late in his career. Even if he wasn't worth all the 5.5 in his 1st year, who cares? It's Melnyk's money and it didn't impact the team as they had the cap space, thanks to the "worst manager" (according to some), who has done the right things.
An healthy NHL franchise has no need to be stingy, they can spend money on players. The results are important and the Sens are still a "middle of the pack" team, but you get over the top with your drafting anyway. UFAs fill holes most of the time
Happy that we have/had Gonchar for a few years here... People can choose to whine instead, I don't care if that's all they have to do...
Just came back from Jokerit game with two of my boys. Great game, especially Karlsson. As starling wrote above, two goals for Erik and he was close to having a hat trick in the end. It's always a privilege to watch him play in Hartwall Areena. Thanks for the loan guys!
The game was also a teddy bear toss game, the crowd throwing teddy bears on ice after Jokerit's first goal to give to charity. Unfortunately this was not shown on the highlight reel below.
The visiting team was KalPa, which is second in SM-liiga at the moment, Jokerit is number one. Kalpa's goalie is Mikko Koskinen who has played for Islanders.
Karlsson's stats:
DEC 5, 2012: KALPA @ JOKERIT 2 - 3 S/O
G 2, A 0, P 2, +/- +0, S 7, PIM 0, TOI 22:51
Karlsson after 25 games: G 7, A 14, P 21, +/- +11, S 190, PIM 12, average TOI 25:39.
Erik's first goal @ 0:16 and second on PP @ 0:45. The game went to shootout and Ruutu was the only one who scored and so Jokerit won the game between top two teams.
